[GAMES] Hideo Kojima officially leaves Konami for Sony

For a few months now, the Hideo Kojima – Konami saga has become one of the most talked about debacles in the gaming industry, as Konami has become accused of mistreating the legendary game designer, Hideo Kojima, who is the man behind their bestselling Metal Gear franchise. And now, after everything has been said and done, Kojima is finally free and has been confirmed to be making a PlayStation 4-exclusive with Sony.

So after his long and historic (though now-strained) run with Konami, Kojima is now working with his own independent studio. The gaming legend explained why he chose to have his new independent studio work on a title for Sony instead of all the other studios, despite receiving many other offers.

The bitter saga between the gaming legend and the Japanese pachinko company included several bizarre episodes, including the fact that Kojima’s name was not included in the Metal Gear Solid V game boxes and promotional materials. During the PlayStation Awards, a Konami PR representative received an award for Metal Gear Solid V instead of Kojima, while during the Game Awards in Los Angeles, host Geoff Keighley announced that Kojima could not make it to the awarding ceremony because Konami lawyers told him not to fly to L.A. to receive the award. Actor Keifer Sutherland (24’s Jack Bower), who voices Big Boss in the English version, accepted an award on his behalf.

An undisclosed number of members from his former studio in Konami also went with Kojima to form his new Kojima Productions studio, which now changed its logo. Its former logo featured a fox, which of course is tied to the Metal Gear Franchise, which Konami still holds the rights to. Here is the new Kojima Productions logo:

We would like to wish Hideo Kojima and his team at Kojima Productions all the best of luck in this new venture. He is now finally free.